There is always some specific purpose behind offering a charity.These days whether it is in Temples, Churches ,Mosque or Gurudwara charity is performed with the purpose of material benefit and not in the mode of goodness. Bhagavad Gita is way to explore about the worship methods but we never look at the root of our scriptures.People need a right Guru who can make us aware about the living.People are not capable of manage their time for reading the scripture and implementing the word of lord Krishna.If you do not have any Guru, then invest your time in reading the Bhagavad Gita and let the Lord Krishna be the Guru for you.
Role of a Guru is very important in such situations.We don't have to hesitate to exchange the knowledge from our dear ones same as Arjuna did, even though he was a great warrior, he was a prosperous king ,a great scholar ,trained by great saints and posses amazing skills then also he needed a Guru in the middle of the battleground. We do not have Guru all the time but we have Bhagavad Gita ,and bhagavad gita tecahes about every subtle way of living life in a Godly way.So lets see what Bhagavad Gita says about Charity and Sacrifice.
Most of the people think there is no use of going to temples just to worship god.One should go to a temple or church to express their devotion and thankfulness to the Supreme Lord ,for this wonderful life. But the new generation is attending temples just for the economic benefit or personal gain.
This form of worship is not enjoyed by the Lord , as per the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 Verse 23 Lord Krishna says;
One who acts under the influence of desires,
disobeying scriptural injunctions, neither
attains perfection nor happiness, nor the Supreme Abode.
It is the duty of every human to obey the scriptural instruction and act upon the same in order to offer respect to supreme lord.
Bhagavad Gita explains about three types of Sacrifices,Sattvic,Rajasic and Tamasic.Now Lets see three types of Sacrifices as Mentioned in Bhagavd Gita.
- Sacrifice, enjoined by the scriptures and performed without the desire for the fruit, with a firm belief and conviction that it is a duty, is in the mode of goodness(Sattvic). (17.11)
- Sacrifice that is performed only for show and aiming for fruit, is in the mode of passion (Rajasic), O Arjuna. (17.12)
- Sacrifice that is performed without following the scripture, in which no food is distributed, which is devoid of mantra, faith, and gift, is said to be in the mode of ignorance(Tamasic). (17.13)
That sacrifice which is offered by those desiring no fruits, with the ‘conviction’.that is sattvic sacrifice which is performed according to the rules with no desire for results.
Sometimes sacrifices and rituals are performed for self gain and elevation to the kingdom or for some material benefits in this world.These days people used to perform pooja and worship in order to achieve something for their personal gain .Such sacrifices or ritualistic performances are considered to be in the mode of passion.
Any sacrifice or charity performed without regard for the directions of scripture, without distribution of prasadam [spiritual food], without chanting of Vedic hymns and without faith is considered to be in the mode of ignorance.
So from the bhagavad Gita we can conclude that those who are spiritually motivated and desire their best way to live life should avoid all foods characterised by raja guna and tama guna and adopt exclusively to foods that are of sattva guna.
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